Whether you live in an apartment and have no yard space or are just enchanted with the idea of growing a bit of food in your own kitchen or on your porch, creating a kitchen garden can be fun and rewarding. There are, of course, a host of kitchen garden pots, planters and other tools available for purchase, but why not create your kitchen garden using upcycled materials? What better way is there to be kind to the environment while enjoying home-grown food straight from your own kitchen?

What to Grow

A number of plants are suitable for a kitchen garden, but it is important to take into account root depth, sunlight requirements and more. Below are a few suggestions of plants worthy of consideration for your kitchen garden.

Strawberries: Nothing quite beats the romance of picking plump, red berries off your own personal plants. Because they are shallow-rooted plants, they adapt well to container growing.

Lettuce: Incredibly easy to grow, lettuce is a top candidate for kitchen gardens, especially if you choose a cut-and-come-again lettuce blend. There are some fantastic seed blends with a wide range of leaf textures and colors and tastes that vary from bland to spicy.

Herbs: The best chefs use fresh herbs. Join their ranks by planting your own food seasonings such as chives, basil, rosemary, parsley and thyme.

Tomatoes: Be cautious when selecting tomato plants. If you have limited space, you will want to look for patio container varieties. These will stay a bit more contained than some of the bigger garden varieties. You can also grow tomato plants specifically for indoor growing, as they don't require bees to pollinate them. Although the pollen naturally drops from one flower to another, some growers suggest gently shaking your tomato plant to encourage pollination.

Radishes: Their compact size and bursts of color make it a no brainer – it must be included in the kitchen garden!

Dwarf Carrots: While your average carrot is too long for many containers, the more compact, ball-type carrots work well.

These are some of the easiest to grow and most popular plants for a kitchen garden. Of course, you can grow many other things, but keep in mind that plants such as watermelon and squash need a lot of space! Once you have decided what to grow, it is time to get down to the business of finding containers in which to plant.

Reading is a treasured pass time and one of the greatest things you
can do. There is nothing quite as satisfying as sinking into a story and
losing yourself to the plot, characters and excitement.

Which is
something that fewer and fewer people are enjoying these days, the lack
of appreciation of books depressing. Even with the creation of ereaders,
which give us greater access than ever.
Why not do your part to show books some love? Check out these awesome purses that upcycle your favorites.

While the series is now over and done with, Harry Potter will go down
in history as one of the most popular fictional worlds of all time.
Order of the Phoenix is a favorite of many, and this Etsy seller is
offering purse with custom fittings, buckles, straps and decorations
using the cover. I have seen many other Harry Potter books used, with
every title available.

We are now far enough into the Christmas holiday that we are all
burnt out from shopping, hungover from parties and sick to death of the
music, am I right? It may only be December 7, but it all starts so early
these days that I feel as though it is all almost over. Even with weeks
to go before the big day is really here. A point that I am constantly
reminded of every time I look at the list of presents I still have to
make.

I never do big gifts for most of my list. Friend, coworkers,
neighbors, my kid's teachers and extended family members are usually on a
separate list. One where the main point isn't to give them something so
much as it is to show I am thinking of and appreciating them. This is
best done (in my opinion) through things I made myself, rather than
anything bought from the store.

But what to give? I try to break everyone up into two categories:
edible and non-edible. People closer to me go with the former, as it
takes more effort for me to make those. The latter are given edible
gifts that I can make in bulk and wrap up nicely.

I know, I know, winter is not the best season for sharing gardening tips but I had that kind of mood missing for sunny days outside, so I decided to remind you of a few gardening tips as well as share a new one!

1. Recycle a CD case into a garden cloche: it works like a mini greenhouse by offering climate control to help get new seedlings off to a good start.

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